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Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the Southern Live Oak (''Quercus virginiana'') or Bald Cypress (''Taxodium distichum'') in the southeastern United States from Texas and Florida north to southern Arkansas and Virginia.〔(Flora of North America, ''Tillandsia usneoides'' (Linnaeus) Linnaeus, Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 1: 411. 1762. )〕〔(Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map )〕 It is also native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America and the West Indies as well as being naturalized in Queensland (Australia) and in French Polynesia.〔(Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Tillandsia usneoides'' )〕 The plant's specific name ''usneoides'' means "resembling ''Usnea''", and it indeed closely resembles its namesake ''Usnea'', also known as beard lichen, but in fact Spanish moss is neither a moss nor a lichen. Instead, it is a flowering plant (angiosperm) in the family Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) that grows hanging from tree branches in full sun or partial shade. Formerly this plant has been placed in the genera ''Anoplophytum'', ''Caraguata'', and ''Renealmia''.〔(Genus: Tillandsia L. ), GRIN Taxonomy for Plants, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.〕 The northern limit of its natural range is Northampton County,〔http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/virginia-scientists-search-for-northernmost-realm-of-spanish-moss/article_4e584659-2f01-5b80-b6d2-dff5092305e1.html〕 Virginia, with unsubstantiated colonial-era reports in southern Maryland where no populations are now known to be extant. The primary range is in the southeastern United States (including Puerto Rico), to Argentina, growing wherever the climate is warm enough and has a relatively high average humidity. It has been introduced to similar locations around the world, including Hawaii and Australia. The plant consists of a slender stem bearing alternate thin, curved or curly, heavily scaled leaves long and broad, that grow vegetatively in chain-like fashion (pendant) to form hanging structures up to 〔http://www.floridata.com/ref/T/till_usn.cfm〕 in length. The plant has no aerial roots〔 and its flowers are tiny and inconspicuous. It propagates both by seed and vegetatively by fragments that blow on the wind and stick to tree limbs, or are carried by birds as nesting material. == Ecology == Spanish moss is an epiphyte which absorbs nutrients (especially calcium) and water from the air and rainfall. Spanish moss is colloquially known as "air plant".〔("From Bearded Trees" ) ''Popular Mechanics'', October 1950, p. 155.〕 While it rarely kills the trees, it lowers their growth rate by reducing the amount of light to a tree's own leaves. It also increases wind resistance, which can prove fatal to the host tree in a hurricane. In the southern U.S., the plant seems to show a preference of growth on Southern Live Oak (''Quercus virginiana'') or Bald Cypress (''Taxodium distichum'') because of these trees' high rates of foliar mineral leaching (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus) providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the plant,〔William H. Schlesinger and P. L. Marks, ("Mineral Cycling and the Niche of Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides L." ), ''American Journal of Botany'', Vol. 64, No. 10 (Nov.–Dec., 1977), pp. 1254–1262.〕 but it can also colonize other tree species such as Sweetgum (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), crepe-myrtles (''Lagerstroemia'' spp.), other oaks, and even pines. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spanish moss」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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